"The people, after 35 years of rule by a dominant party, now realise the need for a counter-balancing force," said Chiam See Tong, the founding chairman of the new Singapore Democratic Alliance.

Singapore politics has been firmly in the hands of the PAP since independence in 1965, and Chiam is one of only two opposition MPs in the current 93-seat Singapore parliament.

"The dominance of the one party rule in Singapore must be checked," Chiam said at the launch of the alliance which was attended by a representative of the British High Commission.

"Without a strong opposition in Singapore the dominant party can freely do whatever it likes and the people of Singapore cannot do anything about it but stand and watch."

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has already dismissed Singapore's varied opposition parties as being "little threat" to the government.

The PAP has been credited with the rapid transformation of Singapore, within the space of one generation, from a tropical backwater with no natural resources into a first world economy.

But critics argue it has acted in an authoritarian manner, raising living standards while restricting civil liberties and cracking down on dissenting voices.

Singapore needs a two-party system "where democracy can really thrive ... where its economic progress need not be guided by the omnipresent hand of the government but by the initiative and dynamism of the people," Chiam said.

The alliance will "strive for the establishment of a democratic, fair and just society," he said, raising the issue of recent pay rises for government ministers as the economy suffers under a global downturn.

In the city-state where the subsistence level for a family of four is estimated at S$12,000 (US$6666) a year, the prime minister is paid $1.9 million -- three times the salary of the US president -- while cabinet ministers make $1.4 million, Chiam said.

"But when it comes to solving the economic problems of Singapore in 1997 and 1998 those ministers can only propose a cut in the salaries of the workers as the main solution to those problems.

"The workers of Singapore know that for their own sake a strong opposition is needed to jolt the ruling party into putting better policies to solve Singapore's economic problems."

To strengthen the opposition vote in the next election, which must be held by August 2002, Chiam said they would co-operate with parties outside the alliance to avoid splitting anti-government sentiment.

"We will definitely avoid a three-cornered fight," he said.

The Singapore Democratic Alliance, the result of eight months of negotiations, has brought together Chiam's Singapore People's Party with the Singapore Malay National Organisation, the National Solidarity Party and the Singapore Justice Party.

One of the most notable absentees from the alliance is the Workers Party which provides Singapore's other opposition MP Low Thia Khiang, as well as J.B. Jeyaretnam who was forced out of politics last Monday after losing an appeal against bankruptcy.

Low, who recently succeeded Jeyaretnam at the helm of the Workers Party, has said he was open to working with the alliance.